Line Up Projection

With the 2010 baseball season less then three weeks away, it's time to look at the start of the season and see what we should expect this year. Today I will be looking at the Mets lineup which should look something like this:

Left Field

The Mets added all-star Jason Bay to the roster to replace the aging Gary Sheffield. This move should help the Mets tremendously. Sheffield was a bad pick-up from the start and Bay will provide much needed power back into the lineup. Also, with the departure of Carlos Delgado, Bay will fit in his spot in the lineup.

Center Field

Carlos Beltran will once again be the starter for the Mets. However, he will miss the first month of the season after off-season knee surgery. Angel Pagan or Gary Matthews jr. will provide as nice replacements but the Mets will need a healthy Beltran if they want to contend.

Right Field

Jeff Francoer will have his full season as a Met after joining the team midway through last year. With evryone healthy, the Mets will not have to rely on Francoer to be their power hitter.

Third Base

David Wright will try and improve on his numbers from last year. He only hit ten home runs last season which was a dramatic drop from his total of 30 from two years ago. Expect Wright to improve on that this year.

Short Stop

Jose Reyes will miss the beginning of the season with his thyroid imbalance after missing over 100 games last year due to a torn hamstring and we can only pray that his legs will hold up this year.

Second Base

Luis Castillo......not much to say about him.

(Plus I'm still mad at him)

First Base

Daniel Murphy looks like the replacement for Carlos Delgado. Murphy struggled last year after a great rookie season and will need to improve his game if he wants to keep his job from prospect Ike Davis.

Catcher

By far this is the Mets weakest position. I orginally thought that Omir Santos would do the cathcing but I was informed from a comment on this blog that Rod Barajas will be handling the catching this year. Either way, I'm not a fan of what we have. Josh Thole is a prospect that the Mets hope will blossom into a all-star but we will have to wait and see.

Starting Pitchers

Besides for Johan Santana the Mets have no one they can count on and say we know we will get a good game out of him. Behind Santana are: Oliver Perez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and a battle for the 5th spot between John Niese and Nelson Figueroa.

Projected Lineup:
(After everyone is healthy and also what I want)

1. Jose Reyes
2. Luis Castillo
3. Carlos Beltran
4. David Wright
5. Jason Bay
6. Jeff Francoer
7. Daniel Murphy
8. Omir Santos/Rod Barajas
9. Johan Santana

What are your thoughts on the Mets lineup for this year? Do you like my lineup or do you prefer something different?

Opening Day Headache

We are less then four weeks away from opening day and already the Mets seem behind. Carlos Beltran will miss the first month of the season after his off-season knee surgery. Now Jose Reyes will most likely be out for the opener aganist the Flordia Marlins because of his thyroid. Two starters out already for the Mets and we haven't even started real games yet. Let's just hope we can recover this time and actually contend at least into the summer months.

The injuries and the constant losing is starting to take its toll on Mets fans as well as myself. But Like I always say, being part of the Mets is like a 24 hour headache (Just ask David Wright). The only problem with this headache is that the only medication is victory. So it Sounds like my head is going to be hurting for a while.

Now I know I seem pestimistic, but can you blame me. But year after year it's high hopes followed by high disaster. Am I the only one who feels this way? Do you think the Mets will have a successful season?

Deja Vu

Here we go again!

Last season was filled with injuries for the New York Mets. This year isn't starting any better.

Jose Reyes will be heading to New York to get retested for a thyroid imbalance. A test taken Thursday showed that Reyes has a hyperactive thyroid and won't be able to return to the lineup until the results are shown which should come on Wednesday.

Reyes only played in 36 games last season before he tore his hamstring and had surgery during the offseason. However, this is much more concerning to the young shortstop. "I have to be concerned about it and find out what's going on. This is important. We're not talking about my leg. We're talking about my health, so I have to be concerned about it. It can be dangerous for me," Reyes said.

We all hope that Reyes is fine but if he's not, and has to sit out along with Carlos Beltran in the begining of the season, this could be a bad case of deja vu!

Oh, one more thing, I think the movie Groundhog Day is a reference to the Mets.

Davis Shines in Opener

Spring training couldn't have started any better for Ike Davis and the Mets with their 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Most starters for the Mets were scheduled to start, but due to the wet field conditions Mets Manager Jerry Manuel decided to sit the starters and go with the bench. "When it rains like that and wind and the forecast is this and that, I just feel it wasn't necessary to do," Manuel said.

This gave young prospect Ike Davis a chance to shine and he took advantage of his early playing time. Davis went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. An added bonus for Davis and the Mets is that he plays first base which is a position still up in the air for the future after the departure of Carlos Delgado.

Daniel Murphy will play first base for the Mets this season even though he is not a natural first baseman. Fernando Tatis (who plays multiple positions) is the back up first baseman. If Davis can continue to have strong performences, he might see himself in a Mets uniform this year.